Blood of Enemies, Blood of Friends
Chapter 29 – Girl Time
The seven Gryffindors were sitting down to dinner in the Great Hall the evening after their last exam. The girls were sitting opposite the boys, as they all talked animatedly about their exams.
"Mione, you did really great in fighting techniques," said Shannon.
"Only because you gave me so much help with the training. Thank you so much for that," Hermione replied.
"I am so proud of you, Mione. My girl can kick some serious arse," said Ron. Hermione blushed at the compliment and was flustered enough to forget to chide Ron for cursing.
Dawn seemed distracted by something behind the boys. Harry turned toward the Slytherin table to see Malfoy making goo-goo eyes at Dawn. He turned back to Dawn, then again toward Malfoy. 'Now that is disturbing,' thought Harry. "Hey, Malfoy, knock it off with the love struck look. You are ruining my appetite," Harry yelled over to the Slytherin table.
Draco's housemates laughed, which annoyed him to no end. He knew that he would have to do something to save face. Draco stood and walked over to the Gryffindor table. He stood in front of Harry and sneered down at him. "What's the matter, Potter? Not getting enough attention from your own girlfriend?" Draco shot a quick look at Shannon. "No offense."
Harry was blushing deeply. "Well at least I can say that my girlfriend has good taste, which is more than I can say for yours." Harry shot a quick look at Dawn. "No offense."
Draco and Harry continued alternating between trading insults and apologizing to Dawn and Shannon, both of whom were getting highly annoyed with their boyfriends.
Buffy and Willow noticed the commotion. "Think we should wander over there and make sure everything is ok?" asked Willow.
"Oh yeah," confirmed Buffy. The two professors walked over to the Gryffindor table, coming up behind Dawn and Shannon just in time to hear the girls dissolve the argument.
"I am thinking that we need a night without these guys," commented Shannon.
"Ooh, a girls' night, count me in." said Dawn.
"A girls' night?" questioned Hermione.
"Yeah, we can have a slumber party and basically spend the entire night talking about guys without them actually being there," explained Shannon as she shot a look at Draco, Harry, and Ron.
"I think we're in trouble," Mumbled Ron. "And for once, I didn't actually do anything to be in trouble for." Much to their dismay, Harry and Draco found themselves agreeing.
"You know, Wills, we should do something like that tonight," Buffy commented, as the girls turned to look up at them.
"Yeah, but I think girls' night should be more than just the two of us. We could ask Faith, Anya, and Cat, but I don't know if we can pry Faith away from Robin or Anya away from Xander, and we really don't know Cat well enough to ask her to spend a night listening to us complain about our love lives or lack thereof. But, then again, it would be good for building group cohesion if we did invite them. And, oh, I guess I'm babbling again."
During Willow's rant, Dawn had looked at Shannon, who nodded. "Um, Buffy, Willow, why don't you guys do the girls' night thing with us? We can have a traditional slumber party, giving each other facials and boy talk and it will be a lot of fun," Dawn suggested excitedly.
"And you can invite Faith, Anya, and Cat and let them decide if they want to come or not," added Shannon.
"It does sound like a lot of fun," added Hermione. She was looking forward to the idea. It had been so long since she had a group of close female friends, after spending the past five years with Harry and Ron.
"It really does," agreed Ginny, who had spent most of her life surrounded by six older brothers. She thought that a girls' night was just what she needed.
"We should do it in the Scooby common room," suggested Buffy. I can convince the guys to stay clear for the night."
Buffy and Willow agreed to invite Faith, Anya, and Cat. Dawn, Shannon, Hermione, and Ginny would meet them in the Scooby common room later in the evening. As Buffy and Willow headed back toward the faculty table, they both admitted that they were looking forward to having some fun that night.
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Buffy and Willow were surprised, when Faith, Anya, and Cat all agreed to attend the slumber party. Giles, Wesley, Xander, and Robin decided to spend the evening at the Hogshead Pub in Hogsmeade. They planned to spend the night in rooms above the pub. Xander explained that none of them were interested in being around a slumber party. His exact words were, "Ooh, girls in pajamas having pillow fights. And, that was such a pleasurable image pre the days of all those girls and one bathroom at Buffy's."
Buffy stopped by Willow's room before heading down to the kitchen to get snacks and drinks. "Wills, want to take a trip to the kitchen with me?" Buffy asked.
"I need a few more minutes, getting some stuff ready," Willow replied, as she put several small glass bottles into two cauldrons.
"Um, Wills, you do remember what a slumber party is like, right? Boy talk, facials, doing each other's hair, not doing potions homework."
Willow shook her head. "It isn't homework. I have a bunch of recipes for facial cleansers, masks, and lotions. I thought it would be fun to brew up our own stuff and then use it."
"Wow, I never thought potions could be fun," mused Buffy. "Well, I will leave you to it then. I'll be back in a bit with the snacks."
****************
Dawn, Shannon, Hermione, and Ginny entered the Scooby common room to find Buffy, Willow, Faith, Anya, and Cat sitting around in their pajamas. Cat charmed a CD to spin in the air and play. She and Faith were singing very off-key to some eighties metal songs.
Buffy escorted the Gryffindor girls to her room to change into their pajamas. The four girls descended the spiral staircase in time to see Willow lining up several small bottles on the table in front of her. "What are we going to do with these things?" Hermione asked.
"Oh please, Willow, no more potions. After that exam, I need a break," Dawn whined.
"The stuff I have to make is easy and fun. Did I mention fun?" squeaked Willow.
"Willow is going to show us how to make a bunch of facial stuff, that we can then try out on ourselves," Buffy explained.
"That could actually fun," said Shannon. "Who knew that there was something useful about potions?"
"All we need now is to convince Snape to use some of the way cool facial products that can be brewed. Does the man know the definition of sallow skin?" quipped Faith. The students and faculty all laughed.
"I think that Snape just needs a few good orgasms," commented Anya. Hermione choked on the butterbeer that she was drinking.
"Did anyone else just go to a scary visual place?" asked Faith.
"Oh yeah," agreed Buffy, Willow, and Cat.
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Andrew had yet again been trying to explain the concept of D&D to Harry and Ron. The two wizards were still confused, mostly because a lot of the game wasn't fantasy in their world. The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Harry shouted.
The boys looked up to see Ron's older brother, Charlie, enter the room. Ron jumped up and ran over to give his brother a quick hug. "What are you doing here?" Ron asked. "I thought you were supposed to be at the Burrow with Mom and Dad."
"Mum made a big deal about spending the holidays with family, so you, little brother, are my excuse not to go to the Burrow. Percy is going to be there, and I am not ready to be in the same room as that little weasel. I think George is planning on coming out to Mom and Dad, and I know for a fact that Bill is going to tell them about what he did. All and all, a couple of weeks at Hogwarts was my best option."
"Start over," said Ron. "I wouldn't want to see Percy either, but what is this about George and Bill. George is coming out of what? And, what did Bill do?"
"George is about to come out of the closet," explained Charlie. Harry and Ron were looking confused. "He is going to tell Mom and Dad that he is gay." Harry and Ron looked even more confused.
"He likes guys instead of girls," added Andrew.
Harry suddenly understood. Ron still looked confused. Charlie tried to explain further, "Ron, sometimes instead of being attracted to the opposite sex, some people are attracted to the same sex."
Ron got annoyed and threw a pillow at his brother. "I'm not an idiot. I know what being gay is. I just don't understand how I never knew before. Yet, now so many things make so much more sense."
"Yeah, well, we always knew you were a little slow," Charlie teased Ron. "The best part though, is that you guys will never guess who he's dating – Oliver Wood." That bit of news really did shock Harry and Ron.
When the shock wore off, Ron remembered Charlie's comment about Bill. "So what did Bill do then?" Ron asked.
"He eloped."
Ron once again looked confused, so Charlie elaborated. "He ran off and married Fleur without telling anyone."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Stop treating me like an idiot. I know what eloped means. I just don't understand why he wouldn't tell anyone about marrying Fleur. The whole family likes her."
"Maybe she's pregnant." Andrew was unsuccessfully trying to be helpful.
Charlie shook his head. "She isn't. Bill just didn't want a big wedding in the middle of everything going on with you-know-who."
Ron's eyes got very wide. "Mum is going to kill him. Her first son to get married, and she isn't even invited to the wedding. Mum is really going to kill him."
"No kidding," replied Charlie.
"I have just one question," stated Ron. "How is it that you live in Romania, but you are the only one who seems to know all this stuff?" Charlie shrugged in reply.
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The girls were sitting with clay masks on their faces, while Willow and Hermione worked to finish the lotion. "It's kind of interesting," mused Hermione. "Most of the ingredients in this lotion are also used in a long-acting, contraceptive potion."
Dawn asked what they were all thinking. "How do you know that, Mione?"
Hermione blushed, as she stuttered through an explanation. "You know me, I like to do a lot of reading. Anyway, I came across the potion earlier this year, and I figured that it was something that I should know for future use, way, way future use."
Cat spoke, "There is no reason to be embarrassed. Being prepared way ahead of time is a good thing. It will keep you from making huge mistakes."
A pained look crossed Buffy's face. Willow knew what her best friend was thinking. "You couldn't have known about Angel."
"But I should have. I should have researched his curse long before we ever slept together. If I had . . . " Buffy trailed off for a moment. "Anyway, talk about a guy changing after sex."
The room was quiet. Only Willow and Dawn had witnessed the actual results of Angel losing his soul, and the damage he had inflicted as a result. Buffy told a condensed version of the story to everyone in the room. "It's amazing that I ever did it again, though that time wasn't so great either," Buffy stated.
"At least no one got killed, when Parker turned into a jerk," said Willow.
"Lots of guys turn into jerks, after you sleep with them," Shannon commented. The girls all looked at Shannon. She had never mentioned her one sexual experience to her friends. Honestly, she had figured that it was best to just forget about it.
"Thus my whole use them and lose them philosophy," quipped Faith. "It made sense to hurt them before they could hurt me. Robin totally threw me for a loop, when I ignored him and he didn't leave. I guess there are some good men out there."
"But even the good ones can hurt you. I still think Xander is a good man, but he ripped my heart out when he left me at the alter," said Anya.
"He was young and scared," said Willow. "Not that that is really an excuse."
"I finally understand why he wanted to wait," said Anya, "but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt."
"We've all been hurt," said Cat, "but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth taking the risk again."
The four Gryffindor girls were intrigued by the conversation. None of them had ever heard adult women talk so openly about love and sex.
"So how do you know that it is worth taking the risk? When you are ready?" asked Dawn. Buffy glared at her sister. "Don't look at me like that. Draco and I are still just making with the kissing, and back in Sunnydale my sexual experiences consisted of one night of making out with a vampire, that I wound up staking. I was just curious."
"I would kind of like to know too," Hermione said softly.
"It is a fair question," said Willow. "Buffy, don't you wish that back then you had someone to talk to about this kind of stuff?"
"Willow has a point," said Buffy. "Angel and I were first together on my seventeenth birthday. I thought I was ready, but obviously I wasn't, because I did not do so well with the repercussions. I wasn't with anyone else until freshman year of college. I slept with a guy who was a jerk. It was a bad experience, but by then I was probably ready. I handled it a lot better than with Angel. Of course, as Willow said, Parker didn't kill anyone as a result. Then I started dating Riley. The relationship had issues, but by then I was ready for a sexual relationship."
Willow spoke next. "My first was Oz just before graduation from high school. We had been together for more than a year at that point, and it just felt right. Though, we probably would have waited until later that summer or once we were at college, if it weren't for the serious chance of us all dying during graduation."
Dawn, Hermione, and Ginny were thinking about what Buffy and Willow had told them. After a few moments the girls looked at Shannon. "Don't look at me," she said. "I was not ready. I only did it because I was freaking about the possibility of becoming the Slayer. I figured that if I could be dead by 18, so I might as well live life to the fullest. I took off one night and picked up a guy in a bar. The whole thing was a bad idea, and I still wish I could take it back."
A worried look crossed Shannon's face. "You guys have to promise that you won't tell Harry. If we ever get to the point where we are ready to sleep together, I will tell him somehow. But, he is going to have to hear it from me. Please don't say anything to him or to anyone else, including Ron and Draco." Everyone promised that nothing any of them had said would leave the room.
"Listen, as the oldest person here, being all of 30, I feel like I need to impart some advice," said Cat. "If you are mature enough to become involved in a sexual relationship, then you should be mature enough to have an adult conversation about sex beforehand. If you aren't ready to talk about it, and I don't mean in the heat of the moment, then you aren't ready to do it."
Hermione sighed. "I hope this all gets easier."
"It doesn't," Willow complained. "I am totally ready for a new relationship, but it isn't exactly like there are a whole lot of twenty-something, lesbian witches to meet at Hogwarts."
"What about Tonks?" asked Faith. "You two seemed to really hit it off."
"I guess, but it isn't like I have gotten much opportunity to see her," Willow replied.
"So over the break, send her an owl and meet in Hogsmeade for dinner or something," suggested Anya.
"I don't even know if I am ready for another relationship," moaned Buffy. "Though even if I were, Willow has a point about the whole lack of possibilities here."
"Don't worry," said Dawn. "When the time is right, you will find the right someone, a guy who can handle who you are and is not another vampire."
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Seamus, Dean, and Neville had gone to bed fairly early. Harry, Ron, and Andrew were still awake, asking Charlie all kinds of questions about dragons. Andrew was especially interested, claiming that the information could be very useful to the next D&D adventure that he was planning. Harry and Ron kept shaking their heads, still not understanding the game that Andrew loved so much.
Ron was getting a little bored with the dragon talk. He had heard all about Charlie's work over the last few years, and this was nothing new. "So, what do you think the girls are talking about?" Ron asked.
Charlie laughed at his littlest brother's concerns. "They are talking about us."
"Us?" asked Harry.
"Men in general," explained Charlie. "It's what women do at these things."
"I hope they don't say anything too embarrassing to our professors," Ron moaned. He really was not liking the idea of a group of women dissecting him.
"Professors?" asked Charlie. "How on earth did they get professors to participate in a slumber party?"
"One of the new professors is Dawn's sister and the others are friends of her sister. We have been doing a lot of extracurricular research with them," explained Harry.
"So they are younger then. That is different. Every teacher I ever had at Hogwarts was definitely a few generations older than us," Charlie mused.
"They are all probably about your age," Ron replied.
"They wouldn't by any chance be single and good-looking would they?" Charlie asked.
"Buffy and Willow are both really pretty and really single," replied Andrew. "Though Willow is gay; so, you would have no chance with her. Anya is with Xander, Faith is with Robin, and I think Cat may be dating Wesley."
"Charlie, you so cannot hit on one of my professors. That would just be wrong," said Ron. Charlie just smiled at his youngest brother and leaned over to ruffle Ron's hair.
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It was nearly 2:00am, and the women at the Scooby slumber party had decided to play truth or dare. Buffy explained the game to Ginny and Hermione. "It is a muggle game that girls always play at slumber parties. We take turns asking each other 'truth or dare?' If someone chooses truth you get to ask them a very embarrassing question, that they have to answer truthfully. If they choose dare you get to make them do something either embarrassing or a bit dangerous."
"Truth or Dare?" Buffy asked Faith.
"Dare."
"Ok, I dare you to sneak down to the dungeon and leave an anonymous love letter on Snape's desk," said Buffy.
"Oh that is just mean," Faith commented, as she scribbled some words on a piece of parchment. After the group agreed that it was an acceptable love letter, Faith snuck down to Snape's classroom to leave it on his desk. She returned fifteen minutes later.
"Truth or dare?" Faith asked Anya.
"Truth."
"Who was better in bed Xander or Spike?" Faith asked.
"That is highly inappropriate with some of the younger people here," commented Buffy.
Anya waved her off. "It is all in good fun. Besides, the question is easy. Xander was better, not because of technique or anything, but because all the good emotional stuff just makes sex better." Anya turned her attention to Cat, "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"So what is the deal with you and Wesley?" Anya asked.
"Right now we are just friends, but there is definitely an attraction there. We will just have to wait and see if anything develops," Cat answered matter-of-factly. "Ginny, truth or dare?" asked Cat.
"Truth."
"What do you see in Andrew?"
Ginny blushed. "He is kind of cute and really sweet, and even though he is older, he is really innocent when it comes to relationships. Ok, my turn then. Shannon, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Is Harry a good kisser?" Shannon looked a bit startled. Ginny had picked up the game quickly. "What? I had a big crush on him a few years ago, and I'm curious," explained Ginny. "So?"
"Harry has the softest lips. And, no matter how many times we've kissed before, he always starts off all tentatively." Shannon smiled, obviously thinking about kissing Harry. She shook her head, reminding herself that she was supposed to be mad at her boyfriend for insulting her best friend during his argument with Malfoy. Shannon turned her attention back to the game. "Buffy, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
At first Shannon was disappointed. She was hoping to have the opportunity to ask Buffy some serious Slayer questions. However, this might present her with an opportunity to get even with her boyfriend. Shannon smiled evilly. "You have to sneak up to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory and steal all of Harry's regular clothes; so that he will have to come down to breakfast tomorrow in his pajamas."
"That's evil," replied Buffy, "and I probably shouldn't be in the boys' dormitory."
"You are a professor. You can be anywhere you like," explained Hermione.
"Ok, just give me the a little bit of time," said Buffy, as she stood. Hermione gave Buffy the Gryffindor password and explained where the boys' room was located and which bed was Harry's. Buffy left the girls' room to fulfill her dare.
"I cannot believe she is actually going to do it," commented Dawn.
"I've learned to never put anything past your sister," Willow replied.
The girls laughed and went back to talking about boys until Buffy returned.
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The boys had finally tired of talking to Charlie about dragons. Harry had fallen asleep on Ron's bed during the conversation. Ron suggested that Charlie take Harry's bed, while Ron shared his own bed with Harry.
Buffy silently crept into the room and over to the side of Harry's bed. She got down on her knees to pull his trunk from under his bed, when a large hand shot out from the bed and grabbed her wrist. 'Busted,' she thought.
Buffy looked up into clear blue eyes. She was momentarily confused. She wasn't looking at Harry. At first, she thought she was looking at Ron, but this was a man, not a teenaged boy. He spoke softly to her, "I must be dreaming. Hogwarts doesn't have angels."
Buffy suppressed a giggle. "Yes, you are dreaming, now go back to sleep."
The red-haired man shook his head. "Only if you tell me who you are and what you are doing, first?"
"I'm Buffy, I mean Professor Summers. This is so embarrassing. I am doing a dare that I got during a slumber party with my sister and some of her friends."
"Fair enough," the man answered. "I'm Charlie Weasley, Ron's brother. I am also really tired, so I will go back to sleep now and let you do whatever it is you need to."
"Thanks," whispered Buffy as she placed all of Harry's clothes into a large bag she had brought with her. "It was nice meeting you," she said to Charlie and then crept back out of the room.
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The girls stopped their conversation, when Buffy entered the room with Harry's clothes. "How did it go?" asked Willow.
"Not as smoothly as I had hoped."
"What happened?" asked Dawn.
"I met Ron's brother, Charlie," replied Buffy.
"Charlie's here?" asked Hermione.
She looked over at Ginny, who was nodding her head. "He is spending Christmas here with Ron and I, something about not wanting to be around the Burrow because Percy is going to be there and George and Bill are going break Mom's heart, whatever that means."
"George is probably going to tell your parents that he is gay," explained Anya.
"How do you know about that?" Ginny asked. She thought that other than Fred that she was the only one in the family who had figured it out.
"Xander and I had dinner with Fred, Angelina, George, and Oliver. Angelina mentioned that George was thinking about telling his parents."
"So Charlie is staying for the holidays then?" Buffy asked. She could care less about George's love life. She was intrigued by Charlie.
"For at least a couple of weeks," Ginny confirmed. "Then he has to get back to Romania."
"What's in Romania?" asked Buffy.
"He works with dragons there," Ginny explained.
The girls returned to their game of truth and dare, which they played into the wee hours of the morning, before finally going to sleep.